Norman s



N. S. AIVlcEWEN.

GAN. OPENER.

APPLICATIDN FILED AUG. 19. 1921.

1,439,0914. l K Patented 0G13. 3, 1922..

Patented (ich 3, 1922.`

`UNITED strates i-A'rsnr orties.

" NORMAN it'. MQEWEN, F NASHVILLE,

CAN ornivnn.

Application filed August 19, 1921. Serial No. 493,628..

To all 'wlw/1n it may concern Be it known that la NORMAN' S. lVloEWnN,

i a citizen of the United States, residing at llashville, in the county of lDavidson and State of Tennessee, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Can Openers; and I do hereby declare 'the following to be a full, clear, and enact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to maire and use the same.

This invention relates to can openers and has for its object to provide a device of this character which will be simple in construction, comparatively inexpensive to manufacture and more e'lhcient in use than those heretofore proposed.

l(Vith these and other objects in view the invention consists in the novel details of construction and combinations of parts more fully hereinafter disclosed and particularly p pointed out in the claims,

Referring to the accompanying drawings forming; a part of this speciiication in which like numerals designate lilre parts in all the views Figure 1 is a plan view partly broken away oi' a can. Iopener made in accordance with the present invention;

Figure 2 is a side elevational. viewof the parts shown in Figure 1;

.Figure 3 is a transverse sectional view, on an enlarged scale, taken on the line 33 of Figure l; and y .Figure 4l is a detail perspective view of the cutting member.

l and 2 indicate handle members prefere ably shaped substantially as shown, pivotally connected together at one of their ends by a bolt or rivet 3 and normally held in divergent position, as shown, by a leaf or otherspring l, secured to the said member 1 and taking against the other member 2, as will be readily apparent.` Rigid with the member 1 is the blade or cutting mem-- ber 5 having the bevelled curved cutting edge 6 andthe bevelled straight cut-ting edge T meeting in a point S. `Rigid with the member Z is a block or anvil member 10 oi? such dimensions and so positioned as to lie substantially above the cuttingmember 5 when the members 1 and 2 are brought together as will be clear from Figure 2.

lt will be noted from the said tigurethat there is a clearance space 11 between the :tace 12 ot the block 10 and the cutting blade 5, and that these two members do not act asl` a shear, but that the entire cutting performed by the blade 5. That is to say, in using` the present invention, the parts beine` in the position shown in Figure l, the anvil. member l() is brought down inside the crimped bead 15 of the can to be opened, with the surface 12 ot the said member enraging the top 16 oit the can and its corners 13 and 11i engaging the said bead.

The handle members 1 and 2 are now gripped and forced together against the ac tion of the spring; da whereupon the member 10 taking` against and supporting the bead 15., the point 8 et the cutting member 5 will penetrate the side wall 17 of the can. The latter is then grasped and rotated in a clockwise direction, as indicated by the ar row in Figure 17 thus bringing successive portions of the said wall 17 into contact with the cutting edge 6 until the top or head 16 together with the crimped bead l5 is completely severed from the body of lthe can.

Due to the rigid construction of the parts and to the tact that the anvil or guide mem ber 10 rests against both the top 16 and the bead 15 of the can7 an unusually clean and even cut is produced. Further, there is no inturned lip left on the opened can to catch and retain portions of the contents thereon as is the case w en the cut is made in the top and not in the side walls of the can.

The cutting blade 5 and the anvil 1() are here shown as separate pieces, secured to the handles 1 and 2 respectively by the pins or rivets 20 and 21; but if desired the parts 5 and 10 may be made integral with their r spec/tive handle members by a drop forging method or in any other suitable manner.

It is obvious that those skilled in the art may vary the details of the construction as well as the arrangement of parts without departingr from the spirit of the invention, and therefore. l do not wish to be limited to the above disclosure except as may be re quired by the claims.

What I claim is z- 1. In a device of the class described, the combination ci a pair of pivoted handle members; means carried by one of said handle members provided with a fiat surface adapted to engage the YHat top of a can and with a curved surface adapted to engage a portion of the inside rim of said can and to serve as a guide; and means carried by the other of said handle members adapted to move parallel to said Hat surface tov cutfrom the outside through a Wall of sald can adjacent said guide means and below said top, substantially as described.

2. In a device of theelass described the combination of a pair of pivoted handle members; a block vrigid vwith 'one of said handle members adapted to enga e the crimped bead of a can cover land said cover to serve as a guide; means rigid with the other of said handle members provided with ay penetrating point a curved enttin edge, respectively adapted to penetrate and cut in a direction from the outside and arallel to said cover a wall of the can a jacent said block; and resilient means associated with said handle members normally maintaining said members out of their operative positions, substantially as described, In testimony whereof I ax m si ature. NORMAN S. CE N. 

